US Winter Nationals Conclude on Saturday

Dec 02, 2018

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The 2018 US Winter Nationals concluded on Saturday night, as six members of the Yale women's swimming and diving team competed in their final events of the meet.

In her sole event of the weekend, sophomore Cate Sawkins placed 35th in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:20.59. Senior Destiny Nelson, who was originally scheduled to swim the event, did not compete in the race, and, instead, competed only in the 200-meter breaststroke. Nelson had a strong showing in the 200-meter breaststroke, finishing 17th in the prelims with a time of 2:36.57.

For the second straight day, first-year Raime Jones competed in two events. In the 100-meter freestyle, Jones touched in 58.15 seconds, good enough for 36th in the event. Jones also finished 35th in the 200-meter butterfly, an event in which she finished with a time of 2:20.45. Placing 36th, junior Bebe Thompson finished just behind Jones in the event with a time of 2:20.90.

In the longest event of the Winter Nationals, the Bulldogs had two swimmers finish in the top 25 places. Swimming the 1500-meter freestyle, junior Kendall Brent finished 14th overall, touching in 17 minutes and 4.35 seconds. Sophomore Nathalie Eid swam the event in 17 minutes and 41.52 seconds, placing 24th.

The eight Bulldogs who competed at the US Winter Nationals will now return to New Haven to join the rest of the team. In the first dual meet in almost a month, Yale will face Southern Connecticut on Thursday. Currently 3-0, the Bulldogs will look to stay undefeated and pick up their fourth victory of the season.